Appendix A. Explanation of important concepts
Scale-up and new or non-traditional approach projects
IDH aims to help bring global sustainable coffee production to scale. In order to do so IDH has cofunding available to support projects that scale up tested and proven approaches in a cost-efficient
manner and to support projects that test new or non-traditional approaches with the aim of
unlocking new ways to help bring sustainable coffee production to scale while improving farmer
livelihoods and sustaining natural resources.
Scale-up projects
Typical scale-up projects are existing farmer training models using approaches such as farmer field
schools or demonstration plots. A large number of farmers will be supported via training and capacity
building to improve their coffee production practices towards more sustainable production in a costefficient manner. The project should be cost-efficient to the extent that there is a business case for
the private sector to extend the project or implement a similar intervention in similar circumstances
elsewhere.
Scale –up projects should also have a clear exit strategy including the case for viable service delivery
to farmers following the end of the project.
New or non-traditional approach project
New or non-traditional approach projects are by definition different from what has been done
before. The optional focus areas include topics on which a new or non-traditional approach could be
based. These optional focus areas can also be integrated into a scale-up project. However for most of
these focus areas a best practices case of cost-efficient implementation at scale is not yet available.
As long as the expected contributions to the sector justify it, these projects can have a higher cost
per farmer than usual. IDH requires from these that they result in clear and sharable learning, a
quantitative business case for scale up, recommendations for future projects, and/or reflection on
where things went wrong, improvement possibilities and potential next steps.
Optional Field Level Project Focus Areas
Farmer segmentation, offering different types of service packages tailor made for different types of farmers
Quality differentiation & better and more cost-efficient quality feedback to farmers
Crop diversification for income stability and food security
1
Gender equity principles integrated into the project intervention
Involvement of youth in the coffee sector
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3
Capacity building of farmer organizations (specific focus on price risk management, efficiency and effectiveness of service
delivery to members)
Facilitate producer access to financial services (credit, savings, insurance), accelerating improvements and investments in
sustainable production
Support reduction of deforestation
1
As far as food nutrition elements are included in the NSC, these are part of the mandatory requirements
As far as gender and youth inclusion elements are included in the NSC, these are part of the mandatory requirements
2+3
Appendix A. to IDH Field Level Projects Call for Proposals - Prospectus
2015
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Service delivery structure
A service delivery structure is the mechanism in which support services are channeled through the
supply chain to improve performance and value creation at producer level.
 In order for field level projects to reach impact at producer level they need to set up a service
delivery structure;
 In order for that service delivery structure to remain after the duration of the project period,
the right institutional partnerships should be built during the project.
Besides co-funding for field level projects, IDH also contributes to sector development through
several learning work streams. A study on the economics and effectiveness of service delivery models
is one of these work streams. IDH encourages applicants to participate in this study using the
proposed project or another project under their portfolio as one of the cases in the study. An
introduction to the study is presented below.
Service delivery model study
IDH and its partners are investing millions in “Service Delivery Models”; the structures in which
support services are channeled through the supply chain to improve performance and value creation.
There are however, no proven models or mechanisms, no benchmarks, and no established best
practices, meaning service operators and value chain investors are often reinventing the wheel. As a
reputable convener of precompetitive initiatives in supply chains, IDH took the initiative to work with
key partners to gain insight into the effectiveness of existing SDMs.
IDH would like to expand the number of cases in a 2nd phase of a study on SDM. Partners that
participate in this 2nd phase get the opportunity to gain insight in their SDM, learn from other SDMs
and use the overview of their SDM to share it internally and externally. Data sharing will be done in a
safe environment. IDH will cover the costs of the consultants who will do the analysis, IDH’ partners
are asked to make available time for data collection and data sharing. More information on this study
and the conditions to participate can be found in the two-pager downloadable here:
http://www.idhsustainabletrade.com/coffee-flp
National Sustainability Curriculum (NSC)
Together with national and international expert stakeholders, the Sustainable Coffee Program (SCP)
contributes towards the identification, definition and prioritization of key sustainability issues
nationally and helps determine the way these issues should be addressed in order to improve or
resolve them.
Key issues and good practice, effective ways of targeting the bottlenecks for sustainable production
are then translated into a National Sustainability Curriculum (NSC). The NSC is a (commercially)
neutral curriculum which forms the basis for producer training material(s) and methodology.
The NSC is intended to be formally endorsed by the national coffee sector – including the local
authorities, research institutions and private sector to build (institutional) capacity and to accelerate
the effective and efficient up-scaling of sustainable production. The NSC is crucial to support capacity
building in extension services by bringing down the costs and increasing the quality of training thus
enabling (public) extension services to increase their effectiveness.
More information about the National Sustainability Curriculum can be found in the factsheet
downloadable here: http://www.idhsustainabletrade.com/coffee-flp
Appendix A. to IDH Field Level Projects Call for Proposals - Prospectus
2015
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